If Steve Bruce wants a chance of reaching the play-offs, stats show that Mile Jedinak must play the remainder of Aston Villa’s season.
After a dismal start to 2017, in which Aston Villa have only picked up one point out of a possible 15, Bruce will be scratching his head trying to work out a winning formula to get the claret and blue outfit back on track. Even with returning fan favourite Jonathon Kodja, and newly acquired talent Scott Hogan, Conor Hourihane and Henri Lansbury, Aston Villa have not lived up to fans expectations, leaving the midlands club in 14th place with just 17 games remaining.
Stats suggest that Mile Jedinak is the missing piece in Steve Bruce’s expensive puzzle. The midlands club have not won a game without the Australian in the starting 11, proving his impact on the team cannot be underestimated. Although he only has two assists and zero goals to his name, his ability to break up opposition play, whether it be on the floor or in the air, is crucial. He likes to sit in front of the back four, providing a link between the defense and midfield.
He has missed recent games due to a groin injury, and Villa’s 37% possession against Brentford and 29% possession against Nottingham Forest prove that in the absence of the 32-year-old midfielder, Aston Villa struggle to retain possession.Without a link between the defense and the midfield, a long ball over the top becomes a regular occurrence. However, Hogan and Kodja are not known for their aerial ability, and with Gestede leaving in a £6 million deal to Middlesbrough, these long balls often end in a loss of possession.
However, even with Jedinak looking likely to return into the match day squad against Ipswich on Saturday, Villa’s recent poor run may have changed the team’s promotion aim for the 2016/2017 season. Earlier in the week, Hourihane said:
“Instead of making it a project from pre-season next season, maybe we should make it a project for now. We can maybe gain some months on teams going into it next season if we don’t do it this year.”
Even the ever optimistic Aston Villa chairman appears to have realized the mountain of a task Bruce has to return this sleeping giant to the Premier League at the first time of asking. He recently tweeted:
“As we agreed to make changes in Jan window, I personally thought realistically we’d use this season to settle everything and focus next season.”
Twitter: As we agreed to make changes in Jan window, I personally thought realistically we’d use this season 2settle everyth… https://t.co/ZZlPxCKfaZ (@Dr_TonyXia)
